


turn me black and blue (holes let in the light)

by becasbelt



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Multi, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-13
Updated: 2019-12-13
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:07:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21777274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/becasbelt/pseuds/becasbelt
Summary: Five times Beca Mitchell was in love with Jesse Swanson, and then the one when she suddenly wasn’t.OrBeca and Jesse, as told through the perspective of Chloe Beale.
Relationships: Beca Mitchell/Jesse Swanson, Chloe Beale/Beca Mitchell
Comments: 24
Kudos: 160





	turn me black and blue (holes let in the light)

**Author's Note:**

> Title from The Paper Kites’ “Holes"

1.

Chloe really didn’t mean to get herself into this mess.

“This mess” meaning having a crush on one of her best friends.

Admittedly, she should have seen this coming. She should have known that her strange fascination with one Beca Mitchell went beyond an admiration for her incredible musical capabilities. She should have known that what she felt for Beca the moment she saw her at the activities fair wasn’t just intrigue, but attraction; attraction that would soon bloom into full-on feelings.

The thing is, Chloe didn’t know for sure if she was actually into girls until this point. She had suspected, yes, but she had felt nothing strong enough to confirm that suspicion.

Enter Beca Mitchell.

If Chloe hadn’t been attracted to girls before Beca waltzed her way into her life, she certainly was now. Though, maybe ‘waltzed’ isn’t exactly accurate for how the situation played out. Shuffled, maybe? Trudged?

Yes, trudged.

As soon as Beca Mitchell trudged into Chloe’s life, she knew for sure that she liked girls. Which was fine, she was totally okay with that. It’s just-

Beca was straight.

Supposedly straight, at least. Chloe had no reason or facts to believe otherwise. What she did know for sure, though, was that Beca liked one Jesse Swanson, and the evidence for that knowledge was sitting right in front of her.

“It’s just, I don’t know if he actually likes me. Like, we kissed at Nationals and he seemed pretty into that, but we haven’t really talked about it since then. I don’t really want to bring it up, though, just in case he regrets it and wants to forget it ever happened. Which, like, is whatever and it’s fine.”

Beca and Chloe are in Beca’s dorm room, thankfully evil roommate-free, sitting on Beca’s bed. They had originally been studying for their finals coming up- well, Chloe had been studying. Beca was playing around with a mix on her computer- when the topic of Jesse came up. It had been a few weeks since they absolutely _crushed it_ at Nationals and emerged champions, and in those few weeks Beca and Chloe had gotten closer; a fact that thrilled Chloe for obvious reasons.

In all their time together, however, Beca never brought up Jesse, which Chloe was grateful for. When Chloe had turned around on stage and saw Jesse and Beca lip-locked, her heart had throbbed painfully in her chest and she’d had to fight to keep bile from rising in her throat. Jealousy was an ugly emotion, and one that Chloe didn’t want to feel.

She figured it would be alright. It was just a silly crush, after all. Chloe got crushes all the time. They mostly all come and go quickly, leaving behind very little heartache. Beca would be just another passing emotional fling.

Only, the feelings Chloe had for Beca were sticking around a lot longer than she anticipated, and the closer she got to Beca, the stronger the feelings for her got. Chloe was ready to wait them out, though. She couldn’t act on them, not now anyways. Beca had a Jesse (maybe), and Chloe was still figuring out her sexuality. Telling Beca how she felt would only end in disaster.

So they hadn’t really talked about Jesse much. But when Chloe saw Beca’s phone light up with a text notification from him, her curiosity had gotten the better of her. She just had to know if they were seeing each other or not. As soon as Chloe asked Beca how things were between her and Jesse, it was like a dam broke. Beca had never been much of a talker, but apparently she had things to say about her feelings for Jesse.

“I just don’t want to ruin anything before it even starts, you know?” Beca absentmindedly plays with a loose thread on her comforter as she talks, laptop pushed to the side for now. “I dunno. Should I say something to him? Ask him what us kissing meant to him?”

At this, Beca looks up at Chloe, wide-eyed and confused. It’s then that Chloe realizes that no matter how much Beca may downplay her emotions for, well, just about everything, she does feel them. And her feelings for Jesse were much stronger than she was letting on. Chloe makes a decision right then: she had to help Beca, even if it meant sacrificing her own feelings.

“You two have got to work on your communication skills if you’re going to make this thing work,” Chloe teases. Beca flushes a little, but doesn’t say anything. Chloe gives her an easy smile. “Jesse obviously has feelings for you. I’m sure he just has the exact same doubts as you do, so he’s nervous to talk about it, just like you.”

Hope creeps its way into Beca’s eyes. “So you think I should just go for it?” She asks earnestly.

Chloe hesitates for only a second before answering, “Yeah, I think you should.”

It only kills her a little on the inside.

But it’s fine because it’s only a little crush. It will pass. At least, that’s what Chloe tells herself.

The next day, Chloe gets an excited text from Beca informing her that she and Jesse talked about everything and that they had a date that evening. She also thanks Chloe for her advice, and says that she couldn’t have done it without her encouragement.

Chloe takes a deep breath and sends back a “No problem! Happy to help!” in response.

And pretends that it doesn’t break something inside of her, something that feels suspiciously like her heart.

* * *

2.

“Hey, has anyone seen Beca this morning?” Chloe asks as she enters the kitchen. It’s Saturday morning, which means it’s the unofficial-and-not-mandatory-but-kinda-totally-mandatory Bella’s breakfast morning. Chloe _loves_ Saturday breakfast. She looks around the room, her gaze landing on Fat Amy. “Amy, is she still asleep?”

The Australian snickers a little, then says, “Oh yeah. I’m sure she’s definitely asleep, just not in her own bed.”

The room fills with snickering and various lewd comments from the rest of the girls. Chloe’s brow wrinkles in confusion. “If she’s not asleep in her bed, then where… ”She trails off as the realization hits her like a truck.

Jesse. Beca’s not asleep in her own bed because she’s asleep in Jesse’s bed. For the first time ever, Beca’s missing not-mandatory breakfast because she’s with her boyfriend. Probably asleep. Probably naked.

It’s not that Chloe didn’t think this day would come; it’s just that she didn’t think it would happen this soon. They had only all been living in the Bella house together for about two months, since the beginning of school. In that time, Beca had never spent the night anywhere other than her own bed.

Of course Beca and Jesse would have sex. They’re young, they’re in love. There was no reason they _shouldn’t_ be having sex. Chloe just didn’t want to think of that possibility at all. Whenever the topic of Beca and Jesse’s sex life came up with the other girls, Chloe usually found some way to extract herself from the conversation. She had no idea if this was their first time together or their tenth, and she was perfectly fine with not knowing.

Chloe’s feelings for Beca had stubbornly stuck around through the summer and into the new school year, even though they hadn’t even been around each other all summer. Beca had gone home to Seattle to live with her mom while Chloe had stayed in the Bella house. Jesse had gone off to wherever he was from, also separated from Beca all summer.

(Chloe told herself that she didn’t hope they wouldn’t last during their time apart, but she definitely had hoped. The first time she saw Beca after their time apart, her excitement was immediately replaced with green sickness when Beca appeared before her, on Chloe’s doorstep, her hand loosely intertwined with Jesse’s. Chloe pretended like it didn’t make her want to throw up.)

Chloe’s feelings stuck around, but it was fine. She was fine.

At least, she was fine until Beca walked through the door that morning.

Beca wears the clothes she had on yesterday, a small smile, and a mismatched assortment of bruises along her neck. The rest of the Bellas start whooping and whistling as soon as she walks into the kitchen. Beca humors them with an awkward little bow and wave before making a beeline to the coffee pot. She glances at Chloe on the way and they make eye contact for all of half a second before Beca looks away again.

The Bellas continue to heckle Beca throughout breakfast, and Chloe does her best to ignore them. One thing she can’t help but notice, though, is that Beca is positively _glowing._ Chloe doesn’t know if the other girls notice, since Beca is answering their questions in her usual sarcastic, deadpan style, but Chloe can tell. Beca’s shoulders are relaxed, her eyes sparkle, and she spreads butter on her toast with a little more gusto than is typical for this time of morning. It’s subtle, but it’s definitely there.

Beca Mitchell is happy, and Jesse was the one to make her that way.

Chloe gets up and scrapes the rest of her breakfast into the trash before heading upstairs to her room. Saturday morning breakfast suddenly didn’t seem as appealing as it used to.

* * *

3.

Sometimes Chloe lets herself get lost in a fantasy where Beca and Jesse are only friends, and she and Beca are the ones in love. A world where Beca kissed _her_ at the end of their performance at Nationals two years ago.

The thing is, it’s a really easy fantasy to get lost in, because it doesn’t all have to happen in her head. She’s basically living it.

It’s easy to get lost in that false reality when Jesse and Beca don’t show much physical affection for each other when they’re around other people. It’s easy to pretend that they’re only friends when Beca punches his arm when he makes a dumb joke, or ruffles his hair when she’s teasing him about something. Easy to believe that her feelings are recuperated when Beca chooses to sit next to her instead of Jesse at social events.

But that’s not even the easiest part.

The times she gets the most lost in the fantasy is when they’re not even around Jesse. When they’re home at the Bellas house, cuddling on the couch during movie night because Beca is _so_ adorably grouchy and Chloe just can’t help herself and Beca doesn’t even try to stop her from pulling her in close; just grumbles for a minute before leaning into her. Or at the grocery store buying pizza rolls because Beca’s been craving them _so damn much_ lately and Chloe has a car and she’s really never been able to say no to Beca, even though she has a test to study for, but that doesn’t matter when Beca’s looking up at her with her big blue eyes and saying, “Please Chloe? For me?”

Sometimes Chloe wonders if Beca knows how she feels. Beca will give her this _look_ sometimes- Chloe’s not even sure how to describe it, can’t decide what emotions are going on in her eyes when she gives her the look. It’s there when Chloe grabs Beca’s hand under the pretense of not getting separated in a crowd. It’s there when Chloe skips all of her classes to take care of Beca when she’s sick in bed.

And it’s there now as they dance together at some nondescript frat party, pressed together so close that Chloe doesn’t even know how she’s getting oxygen into her lungs because all of her senses are overwhelmed with _Beca Beca Beca._

She might just be imagining it, or trying to will something into reality, but Chloe doesn’t think she is. She knows she can’t be imagining it whenever Beca looks at her with that look in her eyes that’s full of contentment, confusion, and something else she can’t quite put her finger on. Fear? Clarity?

Love?

No, she can’t think that way. That line of thinking has led Chloe to more sleepless nights than she can count. There is no way that Beca Mitchell loves Chloe Beale in the same way that Chloe Beale loves Beca Mitchell.

So for now Chloe will just shove down her feelings, which she is something she has gained a real talent for, and distract herself with alcohol and the feeling of Beca’s body moving against her own. And maybe let herself indulge in the illusion that Beca is hers, and only hers.

Chloe drapes her arms over Beca’s shoulders as Beca’s hands move to grip her hips, their bodies moving in sync with each other. The crowd around them pushes them impossibly closer by the second, forcing Chloe to move her head so that she’s cheek to cheek with Beca. Chloe can feel Beca’s breathe on her ear, on her neck, and it shoots heat all throughout her body. Her entire body is buzzing, and she’s not sure how much of that is due to the alcohol in her system.

Beca’s hands move to rest on her lower back as she leans back a bit so that they’re face to face once again. Chloe’s hands unconsciously move to play with the hairs at the nape of Beca’s neck. She watches as Beca’s eyes flutter shut for half second before locking onto her own, and there’s that _look_ again, more intense than ever before. So intense that it takes Chloe’s breathe away.

Beca’s tongue darts out to wet her lips, and Chloe has to force herself not to stare. She tries not to dwell on the fact that Beca’s eyes seem to keep glancing down at her own lips, because she _knows_ that it doesn’t mean anything.

Beca opens her mouth to say something, and Chloe _swears_ that she’s leaning in closer to her, and her thoughts are consumed with _Beca Beca Bec-_

“BECAW!”

The moment is broken in an instant. Chloe all but jerks away from Beca as her eyes clear and she turns in the direction of her boyfriend making his way through the crowd towards them.

Her _boyfriend._ Beca’s very real boyfriend who is breaking their very fake moment. Chloe feels foolish suddenly; she let herself get so caught up in fantasy for a moment it almost felt real. She watches as Beca beams up at Jesse as he finally reaches her, yelling something at him that Chloe can’t hear over the sound of the music and over the sound of her own heartbeat in her ears. Beca laughs and throws her arms around Jesse’s neck, and just like that, Jesse has replaced Chloe as Beca’s dance partner.

All of the sudden, Chloe _needs_ to leave this party. There’s too many people, too much heat and she feels like she’s suffocating. Chloe fights her way through the moving bodies and tries to locate the exit. On her way, she passes the fold-out table serving as a bar and is offered a shot of something. Chloe doesn’t check what it is, doesn’t care what it is; just throws it back and continues on her way.

The cool night air is a relief against her burning skin when Chloe finally bursts through the door of the frat house and onto the front lawn. She takes in large gulps of fresh air and tries to hold back the tears. Chloe glances behind her at the door, half hoping to see Beca appear in it, making sure that she was okay.

Only, there is no Beca. Beca is dancing with her boyfriend inside, utterly smitten and content. Chloe walks home alone, vision blurry and heart heavy.

* * *

4.

They never talk about Jesse.

Well, they do _sometimes,_ in passing. Like when Chloe asks Beca what she’s doing later and Beca says she’s hanging out with Jesse, and Chloe will just say “oh” followed by a tense moment of silence that ends when one of them clears their throat and changes the topic, both avoiding the others’ eyes.

So they don’t really talk about Jesse.

It’s weird. Beca and Jesse have been dating for three years now, yet the topic only seems to get more and more like a taboo over time. It’s gotten to the point where it’s almost a forbidden subject now.

The weirdest part about it, though, is that it is only forbidden between Beca and Chloe. Chloe’s heard Beca talking about Jesse with the other Bellas, seen her be excited with Stacie over something that Jesse did for their anniversary, and watched her show a picture of him on her phone to Amy. Beca talks about Jesse all the time.

Just never with Chloe.

When Beca gets home from a date with Jesse, she’ll tell the Bellas she had a good night and maybe indulge in sharing a few details from her evening before heading up to bed. She’ll stop at Chloe’s room first, though, and check in with her. She never shares any details with her, never says how her night went, and Chloe never asks.

It’s almost like Beca knows how Chloe feels, and is just being considerate by not talking about her boyfriend with her best friend that is stupidly in love with her. It wouldn’t be a surprise if she knew; Chloe’s never been very good at hiding her emotions.

Maybe Chloe wants her to know. Maybe if Beca knew how she felt, it would lessen the near-constant ache in her heart.

So they don’t talk about Jesse and that’s weird, and Beca may or may not know how Chloe feels about her and that’s fine. They have Worlds to focus on anyways.

Focusing on the world competition has let Chloe turn all of her attention and thoughts away from Beca and towards becoming champions. It actually proved effective all year long, until they’re all standing on stage together being announced winners.

The moment they win, happiness fills every corner of Chloe’s body. She can tell the rest of the Bellas feel the same way, because they’re all jumping for joy and screaming and hugging each other. Chloe makes her way through hugging each and every one of her girls, her _family,_ as Fat Amy snatches the trophy away from Beca and hoists it into the air with a war cry.

Then Beca’s in front of her, looking as excited as Chloe feels, and suddenly Chloe has to fight the onslaught of emotions that well up inside of her: joy, relief, love- maybe most prominently love. Chloe doesn’t realize there are tears streaming down her cheeks until Beca reaches out and wipes them away with an understanding smile, tears threatening to fall from her own eyes. Then Beca pulls her in for a hug and Chloe is _home._

When they all finally make it off the stage, still bouncy and excited, Chloe considers finally telling Beca how she feels. They’ve graduated, they’ll be going their separate ways soon, and Chloe has just enough adrenaline to give her the courage to do what she’s been afraid of doing for so long.

Screw it.

She puts a hand on Beca’s arm, stopping them as the rest of the Bellas continue on. Beca raises an eyebrow at her, curiosity evident in her eyes. “Dude, what’s up? Gonna start crying again?” she teases, crossing her arms. “I _told_ you that you should wear waterproof mascara.” Beca smirks to let her know she’s only joking.

Chloe chuckles a little and shakes her head. “No, that’s not it. It’s just- there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you for a while now.” Beca’s eyebrows scrunch together and she nods her head to get Chloe to keep going. Chloe takes a deep breath, eyes locking onto Beca’s, and goes for it. “Bec, I’m kind of in lo-“

“Jesse?” Beca’s eyes are looking behind Chloe over her shoulder. Chloe whips around to see none other than Jesse Swanson approaching them, an American flag draped over his shoulders and a goofy grin on his face. Chloe’s heart plummets.

“Sorry, Chlo, I just gotta,” Beca doesn’t finish her thought before she’s running towards Jesse, yelling things like, “You’re here!” and “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming, you asshole!”

Jesse laughs and scoops Beca up as she all but launches herself at him, her arms around his neck and her feet dangling off the floor as Jesse holds her against him. They’re laughing, and Beca buries her face in his neck while Jesse’s eyes close in content. Chloe stands in shock because this was _not_ how that was supposed to go, watching them hold each other close.

It’s then that Chloe realizes that although home for her is in Beca’s arms, Beca’s home and heart have always been with Jesse.

* * *

5.

There are a few methods of coping with her feelings that Chloe has tried, most of them proving to be astoundingly ineffective. She’s tried telling herself they weren’t real, let herself believe that they would be returned one day, and ignoring them completely. She’s tried distracting herself with studying, excessive work-outs, and TV shows. None of them worked.

Her current method may finally be working, at least more than the others.

Dating.

Funnily enough, Chloe hasn’t really had any desire to date since her feelings for Beca grew from simple attraction to full-on love. It’s not that she doesn’t find anyone else attractive, because Chloe _always_ appreciates a good-looking human being. Not having options isn’t an issue either, because she has been asked out plenty of time over the past few years. She’s turned them all down, even though there was nothing wrong with them. It’s just-

They’re not Beca.

Lately, though, Chloe has been basically forcing herself to go out with people. Deep down she knows that none of them will last, and she’s not actually interested in pursuing anything long-term with them, but at least she’s _trying._ She’s forcing herself because she’s _tired_ of loving someone and not getting love in return. She’s trying because she’s _desperate_ to feel something again other than pain, and if she starts something with someone and she gets her heart broken by them, at least it will be someone else that causes her pain.

Since moving to New York with Beca and Amy half a year ago, Chloe has gone out with a good handful of people, both men and women, much to Beca’s surprise. The first time Beca heard that she was going out with a woman, her eyebrows shot nearly into her hairline. Chloe had just winked at her and walked out the door.

The one good thing about all the dating is that she’s been sufficiently distracted because it’s new and exciting and something _different_ from what she’s been doing for the last four years. The sex helps, too. She doesn’t feel quite as… frustrated as she did for a long time. It’s fun and good and it’s _working._

But none of them last. Chloe always finds something wrong with them. One guy is too tall; another one’s hair is just a shade too dark. Something about one woman’s blue eyes just feels off, and another’s nose is too pointy. There’s always something wrong.

Too tan.

Doesn’t like music.

No piercings.

Not Beca not Beca _not Beca._

Chloe’s walking home from a pretty good date. He was nice and attractive and funny. Did all the things someone should do on a first date. Chloe had fun, she really did. She even told him that she would love to do it again sometime.

So she has bit of a bounce in her step as she climbs the rickety stairs up to her, Beca, and Amy’s tiny studio apartment because she had a good night which doesn’t happen very often for her lately. Chloe’s humming some song she heard on the radio earlier that she can’t get out of her head while she fishes around in her purse for her keys to unlock. Once she hears the familiar click of the lock, she pushes open the sticky door with some effort, and reveals a sight that makes her gasp.

Beca is sitting on their shared pullout bed, bulky headphones around her neck and tears streaming down her cheeks. She’s wearing one of Chloe’s Barden hoodies, and based on the dark spots on the sleeves she’s been using it to wipe her tears to no avail. Chloe quickly shuts the door and drops her bag on table before rushing to Beca’s side, pulling her into her arms. Beca immediately sinks into Chloe’s side and starts crying into her shoulder. Chloe runs her fingers through Beca’s hair and rubs hands up and down her back, murmuring comforting words to help Beca calm down.

“Beca,” Chloe tries after a few minutes when Beca’s sobs have quieted down to sniffles. Beca doesn’t lift her head from Chloe’s shoulder, only burrows deeper into her side. Chloe tries again, “Bec, did something happen? What’s wrong?”

It’s then that Chloe notices that Beca’s laptop is set off to the side of the bed, opened to Skype. Chloe’s stomach drops. The last couple months have been rough on Beca and Jesse’s long-term relationship. Chloe has spent many nights lately comforting a crying Beca as she misses Jesse, telling her over and over again that it would get better, and it was only temporary and that they could get through it.

(Chloe pretended that every word she said didn’t feel like her stabbing a knife into her own gut. She also tried not to take pleasure in the way that Beca would cuddle up to her at night when she missed Jesse, because finding joy in her best friend’s pain was _selfish_ and _so_ wrong in so many ways.)

But Chloe had never seen Beca cry _this_ hard before. Chloe doesn’t want to fear (hope?) the worst, but her she has a feeling deep in her gut that she knows what’s happened.

Chloe gently pushes Beca away from her, lifting her head and wiping tears from her cheeks. Beca’s honestly a mess- eyes puffy, mascara ruined, cheeks flushed, nose runny. Chloe’s heart breaks at how vulnerable she looks.

“What happened?” Chloe asks again softy, needing to confirm her suspicions so she knows how to help Beca.

Beca’s eyes are on her face, but Chloe can tell they’re not focusing on anything in particular. She’s just staring aimlessly. “Jesse ended it.” She whispers, voice cracking on the last word. “He ended us.”

More tears roll down Beca’s cheeks and Chloe reaches up to wipe them away again, keeping her hand on Beca’s cheek. She chooses not saying anything in case Beca wants to continue, which she does after another minute of sniffling. “He said the distance wasn’t-wasn’t working. That it was too hard.” Beca’s eyes suddenly flicker up and focus on Chloe’s own. “He said that I wasn’t trying hard enough to make things work.” A whimper falls from Beca’s mouth and Chloe rubs a thumb over her cheek soothingly. “He said that-that he didn’t know if he loved me anymore because he didn’t think that I loved him.”

At this, Beca crumples again, pain filling her expression as she collapses back into Chloe. Chloe doesn’t even know what to say, so she just kisses the top of Beca’s head and holds her close. Chloe knows that nothing she says right now can make Beca feel better, because she knows a thing or two about heartbreak.

She knows how impossible it is to put a broken heart back together.

* * *

1.

Getting back into a routine after a vacation is always a struggle, especially when that vacation involves touring around Europe with her favorite people in the world; doing the thing she loves most in the world.

Work had been long and tiring today, and Chloe honestly just wanted to go home and flop in bed and watch some Netflix cuddled up with Beca. Only, that wasn’t possible. Chloe had said goodbye to her that morning.

Chloe had said goodbye as in, Beca left for LA today and Chloe had said goodbye to her until who knows when. Beca had gone to live in LA while Chloe was staying in New York.

To say that saying goodbye had been hard would be putting it mildly.

It was all so unexpected, Beca leaving. 24 hours after they arrived home from the USO tour, Beca had gotten a call from Theo telling her that he was working out details and logistics for Beca to move to LA so that she could start her career as a big-shot music industry person. Three days after that most of Beca’s stuff was loaded onto a moving truck and being shipped across the country.

Two days after that she’d said goodbye to Chloe and gotten on a plane bound for the other side of the country.

Chloe hadn’t even known how to process it all. It had happened so fast that she didn’t even realize how sad she was until she was on the subway on the way to work after saying goodbye. She cried- no, she _sobbed_ the whole way to work, getting plenty of strange and pitied looks from strangers around her. One old lady even offered her some caramel candies and a tissue. The tissue she took, the candies she declined.

Chloe’s coworkers knew that something was wrong with her, though they all seemed to sense that she didn’t want to talk about it, which she was grateful for. She was able to pull herself together by the time she got to the clinic, but if anyone had asked her what was wrong she knew she would have broken down crying again.

Chloe sighs as she pulls her keys out and starts unlocking the door to her apartment, preparing herself mentally for the sight of an empty apartment. There would be no Beca laying bed listening to crappy demos from wannabe singers; there would be no Beca working on her laptop at their tiny kitchen table. No Beca burning grilled cheese at the stove and filling their apartment with the scent of scorched bread, causing Chloe to laugh at her as she cracks open a window.

With a sniff, Chloe pushes open the stupid sticky door, looks up, and-

There was Beca.

Beca Mitchell sat at their kitchen table, laptop bag by the floor next to her chair, and the same clothes she had on her back when Chloe left this morning. As soon as Beca sees Chloe, she shoots out of her chair.

Chloe’s jaw drops. “Beca? What are you doing here?” Chloe asks, incredulous. “I thought your plane left five hours ago.”

Beca nods her head as her eyes roam all over Chloe’s face. Her feet stay firmly rooted in place. “It did,” is all she says.

Chloe’s eyebrows scrunch together, confused as to what’s happening right now. “Then, why are you h-“

“I couldn’t get on the plane,” Beca suddenly rushes out, interrupting Chloe. Chloe’s mouth snaps shut as she watches Beca start to tap her fingers against her leg. “I couldn’t get on the plane because I couldn’t leave you.” Beca says, slower and more quietly this time. Beca’s eyes lock onto Chloe’s and she takes a step forward. “I went to board, and I was thinking about how my life was going to change, and how I was finally getting what I always wanted, and imagining how my life was going to be and that’s when I realized you wouldn’t be in it. You wouldn’t be in my life anymore and I realized that that wasn’t what I wanted.”

Tears are welling up in Chloe’s eyes, though not spilling over quite yet. Beca takes another couple steps forward until she’s standing about a foot away from Chloe, who’s still standing in the open doorway of the apartment. Beca takes a shaky breath before continuing. “I’ve always wanted to go to LA, Chlo, you know that. But it wasn’t until it was within my grasp that I realized it wasn’t what I wanted most in this world anymore. It’s you.”

The tears are streaming freely down Chloe’s face now, but she can’t find it within her to care. “Beca, are- are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

Beca smile is nervous but genuine as she says, “I love you, Chlo.”

Chloe lets out a watery laugh, and Beca looks disappointed and alarmed for a second before Chloe takes her hands and says, “I love you, too. _God_ I love you _so much._ ” Then Beca’s laughing too as she pulls Chloe in for a hug. They stand there for a minute, just wrapped up in each other’s arms, laughing like the fools they are.

Chloe pulls back from their embrace too look into Beca’s eyes, and there’s the _look._ The look that Chloe could never interpret, except now Chloe can clearly see what’s going on in Beca’s dark eyes. She was right all those years ago; love was the thing she wasn’t letting herself see. Chloe brings her hands up to frame Beca’s face. “Is this real?” She asks, not letting herself believe quite yet.

Beca smiles the biggest smile Chloe’s ever seen from her and wraps her arms tighter around Chloe’s back. “It’s real. If you’ll take me, that is.”

Chloe chuckles and rolls her eyes. “Oh please. I’ve already chosen you a hundred times. Who’s to stop me from choosing you a hundred more?”

When their lips meet, Chloe thinks this is a lot what feeling complete is like. Beca’s put a lot of holes in her heart over the past few years, but Chloe thinks they’re off to a good start with filling them back up again.

**Author's Note:**

> I've been reading Bechloe fics for years now, so I decided that it was time I tried my hand at writing something lol


End file.
